1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gun launched aero-vehicle that is transformable from a ballistic projectile configuration to an aeroplane configuration. In particular, the invention relates to a vehicle that uses a cylinder strong back for both the shell of the projectile and the fuselage of the aeroplane.
2. Description of Related Art
Prior art unmanned aero-vehicles are generally runway or catapult launched. Vehicles are known to be delivered in a projectile or shell that opens like a clam shell; however, such vehicles are either very small inside the clam shell or are fragile and cannot survive the acceleration of a large gun launched projectile.
Once such a vehicle is delivered down range, such a vehicle has limited loiter time due to small fuel tank capacity.